Blog — WINGS WorldQuest

Addressing Plastic Pollution in the the Aldabra Atoll

Aldabra, located in the Seychelles archipelago off the coast of East Africa, is the second largest coral atoll in the world. The World UNESCO World Heritage site is home to rare biodiversity – including two-thirds of the world’s giant tortoise population.

Although Aldabra is fairly remote – 265 miles from the nearest shore – large amounts of plastic pollution have accumulated along the shore of the atoll, carried by currents of wind. The giant tortoises have been seen ingesting plastic, birds have been entangled in fishing line, and nesting endangered green turtles are facing the plastic as a barrier to their nesting sites.

Bianca FortisJanuary 28, 2019Comment

2018 Holiday Gift Guide

If you’re on a quest to find the perfect, unique gift for a loved one (or for yourself!), we’ve got you covered with the 2018 WINGS WorldQuest Holiday Gift Guide.

From our Fellows' latest books to social-impact fashion, home products and coffee, there’s something on the list for everyone.

Bianca FortisDecember 1, 2018Comment

How Saving Seeds Might Save the World

Seeds are a powerful part of conservation. The plants they produce are used in cultural ceremonies, medicine and food preparation, and they feed local fauna. If you preserve seeds, you are preserving cultural heritage, according to Sefra Alexandra, also known as the “Seed Huntress.”

“Seeds, tiny, living embryos, are kind of the most boiled-down, salient aspect of conservation if you’re looking at specific ecosystems wherever you are,” she explained.

Bianca FortisNovember 3, 2018flag carriers, sefra alexandra, haiti, fiji, seeds, seed banks Comment

Trekking Across Oman Offers an Opportunity to Challenge Cultural Stereotypes

Janey McGill, along with a group of Anglo-Omani women, will carry the WINGS flag across 1,000 km of Oman’s Rub’ Al Khali, a desert in the Arabian Peninsula that spans four countries.

McGill, who spent four years as a soldier in the British Army’s Honourable Artillery Company, sees the trek is a physical journey, but also an opportunity to address stereotypes. Her goal is to encourage understanding, acceptance and respect for cultural and gender differences and identities.

We spoke to Janey to learn more about her plans for the expedition and how she anticipates her military training will help her.

Bianca FortisSeptember 18, 2018Comment

Women of Discovery: Q&A With Nergis Mavalvala

Nergis Mavalvala is the associate head of the Department of Physics and the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics at MIT. She is a physicist whose research focuses on the detection of gravitational waves from violent events in the cosmos that warp and ripple the fabric of spacetime. She is part of the scientific team that in early 2016 announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors. She will receive our Air & Space Award.

Bianca FortisApril 9, 2018Comment

Women of Discovery: Q&A With Eleanor Sterling

Dr. Eleanor Sterling is the Jaffe Chief Conservation Scientist at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History. She has interdisciplinary training in biological and social sciences and has over 30 years of field research and community outreach experience with direct application to biodiversity conservation in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. She will receive our Humanity Award.